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History of Mesopotamia
See also: Timeline of Mesopotamian history The history of ranges from the earliest human occupation in the Lower Sumaya period up to the Late antiquity. This history is pieced together from evidence retrieved from archaeological excavations and, after the introduction of writing in the late 4th millennium BC, an increasing amount of historical sources. While in the Paleolithic and early Neolithic periods only parts of Upper Mesopotamia were occupied, the southern alluvium was settled during the late Neolithic period. Mesopotamia has been home to many of the oldest major civilizations, entering history from the , for which reason it is often dubbed the . The rise of the first cities in southern Mesopotamia dates to the , from c. 4000 BC onward; its regional independence ended with the conquest in 539 BC, although a few native neo-Assyrian kingdoms existed at different times. Short outline of Mesopotamia , circa 7500 BC, with main archaeological sites of the period. At that time, the area of Mesopotamia proper was not yet settled by humans.}} Mesopotamia literally means "(Land) between rivers" in . The oldest known occurrence of the name Mesopotamia dates to the 4th century BC, when it was used to designate the land east of the in north . Later it was more generally applied to all the lands between the Euphrates and the , thereby incorporating not only parts of Syria but also almost all of and southeastern . The neighbouring steppes to the west of the Euphrates and the western part of the are also often included under the wider term Mesopotamia. A further distinction is usually made between Upper or Northern Mesopotamia and Lower or Southern Mesopotamia. Upper Mesopotamia, also known as the , is the area between the Euphrates and the Tigris from their sources down to . Lower Mesopotamia is the area from Baghdad to the . In modern scientific usage, the term Mesopotamia often also has a chronological connotation. It is usually used to designate the area until the in the 7th century AD, with names like Syria, Jezirah and Iraq being used to describe the region after that date. Chronology and periodization Two types of chronologies can be distinguished: a and an . The former establishes the order of phases, periods, cultures and reigns, whereas the latter establishes their absolute age expressed in years. In archaeology, relative chronologies are established by carefully excavating s and reconstructing their – the order in which layers were deposited. In general, newer remains are deposited on top of older material. Absolute chronologies are established by dating remains, or the layers in which they are found, through absolute dating methods. These methods include and the written record that can provide year names or s. By combining absolute and relative dating methods, a chronological framework has been built for Mesopotamia that still incorporates many uncertainties but that also continues to be refined. In this framework, many prehistorical and early historical periods have been defined on the basis of material culture that is thought to be representative for each period. These periods are often named after the site at which the material was recognized for the first time, as is for example the case for the , and s. When historical documents become widely available, periods tend to be named after the dominant dynasty or state; examples of this are the and . While reigns of kings can be securely dated for the 1st millennium BC, there is an increasingly large error margin toward the 2nd and 3rd millennia BC. Based on different estimates for the length of periods for which still very few historical documents are available, so-called Long, , Short and Ultra-short Chronologies have been proposed by various scholars, varying by as much as 150 years in their dating of specific periods. Despite problems with the Middle Chronology, this chronological framework continues to be used by many recent handbooks on the archaeology and history of the ancient Near East. A study from 2001 published high-resolution radiocarbon dates from Turkey supporting dates for the 2nd millennium BC that are very close to those proposed by the Middle Chronology. Prehistory Pre-Pottery Neolithic period , circa 7500 BC, with main sites.. The area of proper was not yet settled by humans.}} with modern roof to protect the site against the weather|alt=Roughly built stone walls surrounding T-shaped stone pillars under a modern steel walkway and roof in a hilly landscape}} The early human occupation of Mesopotamia is, like the previous Epipaleolithic period, confined to the foothill zones of the Taurus and Zagros Mountains and the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates valleys. The (PPNA) period (10,000–8700 BC) saw the introduction of , while the oldest evidence for animal dates to the transition from the PPNA to the (PPNB, 8700–6800 BC) at the end of the 9th millennium BC. This transition has been documented at sites like Abu Hureyra and Mureybet, which continued to be occupied from the Natufian well into the PPNB. The so-far earliest monumental sculptures and circular stone buildings from in southeastern Turkey date to the PPNA/Early PPNB and represent, according to the excavator, the communal efforts of a large community of hunter-gatherers. File:Asikli Hoyuk sarah c murray 6176.jpg|Reconstitution of housing in , Upper Mesopotamia, modern . File:Jar MET VS1985 356 16.jpg|Jar in calcite alabaster, Syria, late 8th millennium BC. File:Mace head MET vs1985 356 24.jpg|Mace-head, late 8th millennium BC. File:Alabaster pot Mid-Euphrates region 6500 BCE Louvre Museum.jpg|Alabaster pot Mid-Euphrates region, 6500 BC, Louvre Museum File:Alabaster pot, Mid-Euphrates region 6500 BCE Louvre Museum.jpg| pot, Mid-Euphrates region, 6500 BC, Louvre Museum File:Seated female MET vs1985 356 32.jpg|Female statuette, 8th millennium BC, Syria. Chalcolithic period in the north, the in the northwest, the in central Mesopotamia and the in the southeast, which later expanded to encompass the whole region.}} The was inhabited by several distinct, flourishing cultures between the end of the last ice age (c. 10,000 BC) and the beginning of history. One of the oldest known sites in Mesopotamia is , settled around 7000 BC and broadly contemporary with (in the ) and (in ). It as well as other early Neolithic sites, such as and were in northern Mesopotamia; later settlements in southern Mesopotamia required complicated methods. The first of these was , settled during the culture by farmers who brought with them the Samarran culture from the north. Halaf culture (Northwestern Mesopotamia) Pottery was decorated with abstract geometric patterns and ornaments, especially in the , also known for its clay fertility figurines, painted with lines. Clay was all around and the main material; often modelled figures were painted with black decoration. Carefully crafted and dyed pots, especially jugs and bowls, were traded. As dyes, containing clays were diluted in different degrees or various minerals were mixed to produce different colours. Hassuna culture (Northern Mesopotamia) The is a in northern dating to the early sixth millennium BC. It is named after the of in . Other sites where Hassuna material has been found include . Samarra culture (Central Mesopotamia) The is a in northern that is roughly dated to 5500–4800 BCE. It partially overlaps with the and early . Ubaid culture (Southern Mesopotamia) The (c. 6500–3800 BC) is a period of . The name derives from in Southern Mesopotamia, where the earliest large excavation of Ubaid period material was conducted initially by and later by . In South Mesopotamia the period is the earliest known period on the although it is likely earlier periods exist obscured under the . In the south it has a very long duration between about 6500 and 3800 BC when it is replaced by the . Northern expansion of Ubaid culture on the , dated circa 3300-3200 BC, , . This work of art suggests early , showing the influence of Mesopotamia on at an early date, and the state of Mesopotamian royal iconography during the Uruk period. . | image2 = Uruk King-Priest 3300 BCE portrait detail.jpg | caption2 = Similar portrait of a probable Uruk King-Priest with a brimmed round hat and large beard, excavated in Uruk and dated to 3300 BC. . | footer= }} In North Mesopotamia the period runs only between about 5300 and 4300 BC. It is preceded by the and the and succeeded by the Late Chalcolithic period. The new period is named Northern Ubaid to distinguish it from the proper Ubaid in southern Mesopotamia, and two explanations were presented for the transformation. The first maintain an invasion and a replacement of the Halafians by the Ubaidians, however, there is no hiatus between the Halaf and northern Ubaid which exclude the invasion theory. The most plausible theory is a Halafian adoption of the Ubaid culture, Uruk period This was followed by the . Named after the Sumerian city of , this period saw the emergence of urban life in Mesopotamia. It was followed by the . The late Uruk period (34th to 32nd centuries) saw the gradual emergence of the and corresponds to the ; it may also be called the "Protoliterate period". Third millennium BC Jemdet Nasr period , 3100–2900 BC, probably from the city of Uruk.}} The Jemdet Nasr period, named after the , is generally dated to 3100–2900 BC. It was first distinguished on the basis of distinctive painted monochrome and polychrome pottery with geometric and figurative designs. The cuneiform writing system that had been developed during the preceding Uruk period was further refined. While the language in which these tablets were written cannot be identified with certainty for this period, it is thought to be . The texts deal with administrative matters like the rationing of foodstuffs or lists of objects or animals. Settlements during this period were highly organized around a central building that controlled all aspects of society. The economy focused on local agricultural production and sheep-and-goat . The homogeneity of the Jemdet Nasr period across a large area of southern Mesopotamia indicates intensive contacts and trade between settlements. This is strengthened by the find of a sealing at Jemdet Nasr that lists a number of cities that can be identified, including , and . Early Dynastic period , possible founder of the , 26th century BCE.}} The entire Early Dynastic period is generally dated to 2900–2350 BC according to the , or 2800–2230 BC according to the . The ians were firmly established in Mesopotamia by the middle of the 4th millennium BC, in the archaeological Uruk period, although scholars dispute when they arrived. It is hard to tell where the Sumerians might have come from because the Sumerian language is a , unrelated to any other known language. Their includes many references to the area of Mesopotamia but little clue regarding their place of origin, perhaps indicating that they had been there for a long time. The is identifiable from its initially ic which arose last half of the 4th millennium BC. By the 3rd millennium BC, these had developed into increasingly complex societies. Irrigation and other means of exploiting food sources were being used to amass large surpluses. Huge building projects were being undertaken by rulers, and political organization was becoming ever more sophisticated. Throughout the millennium, the various , Uruk, Ur and Lagash vied for power and gained hegemony at various times. and were important religious centers, as was Eridu at this point. This was also the time of , a semi-historical king of Uruk, and the subject of the famous . By 2600 BC, the logographic script had developed into a decipherable script. The chronology of this era is particularly uncertain due to difficulties in our understanding of the text, our understanding of the material culture of the Early Dynastic period and a general lack of for sites in Iraq. Also, the multitude of city-states makes for a confusing situation, as each has its own history. The is one record of the political history of the period. It starts with mythological figures with improbably long reigns, but later rulers have been authenticated with evidence. The first of these is of Kish, c. 2600 BC, said by the king list to have subjected neighboring . However, one complication of the Sumerian king list is that although dynasties are listed in sequential order, some of them actually ruled at the same time over different areas. of Uruk conquered all of Sumer, Akkad, and , followed by of Lagash who also conquered Sumer. His methods were force and intimidation (see the ), and soon after his death, the cities rebelled and the empire again fell apart. Some time later, of created the first, if short-lived, empire to extend west of Mesopotamia, at least according to historical accounts dated centuries later. The last native Sumerian to rule over most of Sumer before established supremacy was . During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians which included widespread . The influence of Sumerian on (and vice versa) is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a massive scale, to syntactic, morphological, and phonological convergence. This has prompted scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the 3rd millennium as a . Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as the spoken language of Mesopotamia somewhere around the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC (the exact dating being a matter of debate), but Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific language in Mesopotamia until the 1st century AD. Akkadian Empire (brown) and the directions in which military campaigns were conducted (yellow arrows)}} state (brown) and its influence sphere (red)}} The Akkadian period is generally dated to 2350–2170 BC according to the , or 2230–2050 BC according to the . Around 2334 BC, Sargon became ruler of Akkad in northern . He proceeded to conquer an area stretching from the into modern-day . The Akkadians were a and the came into widespread use as the during this period, but literacy remained in the Sumerian language. The Akkadians further developed the Sumerian irrigation system with the incorporation of large and into the design to facilitate the reservoirs and canals required to transport water vast distances. The dynasty continued until around c. 2154 BC, and reached its zenith under , who began the trend for rulers to claim divinity for themselves. The Akkadian Empire lost power after the reign of Naram-Sin, and eventually was invaded by the from the . For half a century the Guti controlled Mesopotamia, especially the south, but they left few inscriptions, so they are not well understood. The Guti hold loosened on southern Mesopotamia, where the second dynasty of Lagash came into prominence. Its most famous ruler was , who left many statues of himself in temples across Sumer. Ur III period Eventually the Guti were overthrown by of Uruk, and the various city-states again vied for power. Power over the area finally went to the city-state of Ur, when founded the (2112–2004 BC) and conquered the Sumerian region. Under his son , state control over industry reached a level never again seen in the region. Shulgi may have devised the , one of the earliest known (three centuries before the more famous ). Around 2000 BC, the power of Ur waned, and the came to occupy much of the area, although it was Sumer's long-standing rivals to the east, the Elamites, who finally overthrew Ur. In the north, Assyria remained free of Amorite control until the very end of the 19th century BC. This marked the end of city-states ruling empires in Mesopotamia, and the end of Sumerian dominance, but the succeeding rulers adopted much of Sumerian civilization as their own. Second millennium BC Old Assyrian Period Of the early history of the kingdom of Assyria, little is positively known. The mentions rulers going back to the 23rd and 22nd century BC. The earliest king named , who was a contemporary of of , appears to have lived in the mid-23rd century BC, according to the king list. Tudiya concluded a treaty with Ibrium for the use of a trading post in officially controlled by Ebla. Apart from this reference to trading activity, nothing further has yet been discovered about Tudiya. He was succeeded by and then a further thirteen rulers about all of whom nothing is yet known. These early kings from the 23rd to late 21st centuries BC, who are recorded as kings who lived in tents were likely to have been semi nomadic pastoralist rulers, nominally independent but subject to the Akkadian Empire, who dominated the region and at some point during this period became fully urbanised and founded the city state of . A king named (c. 2030 BC) is credited with dedicating temples to in the home city of the god. In around 1975 BC founded a new dynasty, and his successors such as , (1945–1906 BC), (1905–1867 BC), (1867–1860 BC), , and left inscriptions regarding the building of temples to , and in Assyria. in particular appears to have been a powerful king and the dominant ruler in the region, who made many raids into southern between 1945 BC and 1906 BC, attacking the independent city states of the region such as , and founding colonies in . This was to become a pattern throughout the history of ancient Mesopotamia with the future rivalry between Assyria and Babylonia. However, Babylonia did not exist at this time, but was founded in 1894 BC by an prince named during the reign of Erishum I. Isin-Larsa, Old Babylonian and Shamshi-Adad I (Isin-Larsa period) | total_width=250 | image1 = Anubanini_(3936968576).jpg | caption1 = Original relief. | image2 = Anubanini extracted.jpg | caption2 = Components of the relief. }} The next two centuries or so saw southern Mesopotamia dominated by the Amorite cities of and , as the two cities vied for dominance. This period also marked a growth in power in the north of Mesopotamia. An n king named (1945–1906 BC) became a dominant figure in Mesopotamia, raiding the southern city states and founding colonies in . and , two ruled states also became important in the north. was founded as an independent state by an chieftain named in 1894 BC. For over a century after its founding, it was a minor and relatively weak state, overshadowed by older and more powerful states such as , , and . However, (1792 BC to 1750 BC), the Amorite ruler of , turned Babylon into a major power and eventually conquered Mesopotamia and beyond. He is famous for his and conquests, but he is also famous due to the large amount of records that exist from the period of his reign. After the death of Hammurabi, the first Babylonian dynasty lasted for another century and a half, but his empire quickly unravelled, and Babylon once more became a small state. The Amorite dynasty ended in 1595 BC, when Babylonia fell to the king , after which the took control. Unlike the south of Mesopotamia, the native Akkadian kings of Assyria repelled Amorite advances during the 20th and 19th centuries BC. However this changed in 1813 BC when an Amorite king named usurped the throne of Assyria. Although claiming descendency from the native Assyrian king , he was regarded as an interloper. Shamshi-Adad I created a regional empire in Assyria, maintaining and expanding the established colonies in and . His son continued this process, however his successors were eventually conquered by , a fellow Amorite from Babylon. The three Amorite kings succeeding Ishme-Dagan were vassals of Hammurabi, but after his death, a native Akkadian vice regent overthrew the Amorites of Babylon and a period of civil war with multiple claimants to the throne ensued, ending with the succession of king c. 1720 BC. Middle Assyrian Period and Empire The Middle Assyrian period begins c. 1720 BC with the ejection of Amorites and Babylonians from Assyria by a king called . The nation remained relatively strong and stable, peace was made with the Kassite rulers of Babylonia, and Assyria was free from Hittite, Hurrian, Gutian, Elamite and Mitanni threat. However a period of domination occurred from the mid-15th to early 14th centuries BC. This was ended by (1392 BC - 1366), and his successor completely overthrew the Empire and founded a powerful that came to dominate Mesopotamia and much of the ancient (including , , , the and parts of the and ), with Assyrian armies campaigning from the to the , and from the to . The empire endured until 1076 BC with the death of . During this period Assyria became a major power, overthrowing the Empire, annexing swathes of , and land, sacking and dominating , / and becoming a rival to . Kassite dynasty of Babylon Although the Hittites overthrew Babylon, another people, the , took it as their capital (c. 1650–1155 BC (short chronology)). They have the distinction of being the longest lasting dynasty in Babylon, reigning for over four centuries. They left few records, so this period is unfortunately obscure. They are of unknown origin; what little we have of their language suggests it is a . Although Babylonia maintained its independence through this period, it was not a power in the Near East, and mostly sat out the large wars fought over the between , the , and (see below), as well as independent peoples in the region. participated in these wars toward the end of the period, overthrowing the Empire and besting the and , but the Kassites in Babylon did not. They did, however, fight against their longstanding rival to the east, Elam (related by some linguists to the in modern India). Babylonia found itself under Assyrian and Elamite domination for much of the later Kassite period. In the end, the conquered Babylon, bringing this period to an end. Hurrians The were a people who settled in northwestern Mesopotamia and southeast Anatolia in 1600 BC. By 1450 BC they established a medium-sized empire under a ruling class, and temporarily made tributary vassals out of kings in the west, making them a major threat for the in Egypt until their overthrow by Assyria. The is related to the later , but there is no conclusive evidence these two languages are related to any others. Hittites By 1300 BC the Hurrians had been reduced to their homelands in after their power was broken by the Assyrians and Hittites, and held the status of vassals to the "Hatti", the , a western people (belonging to the linguistic "kentum" group) who dominated most of (modern ) at this time from their capital of . The Hittites came into conflict with the Assyrians from the mid-14th to the 13th centuries BC, losing territory to the Assyrian kings of the period. However they endured until being finally swept aside by the , who conquered their homelands in Asia Minor. The Phrygians were prevented from moving south into Mesopotamia by the Assyrian king . The Hittites fragmented into a number of small states, which endured in the region for many centuries. Bronze Age collapse Records from the 12th and 11th centuries BC are sparse in Babylonia, which had been overrun with new settlers, namely the , and . Assyria however, remained a compact and strong nation, which continued to provide much written record. The 10th century BC is even worse for Babylonia, with very few inscriptions. Mesopotamia was not alone in this obscurity: the Hittite Empire fell at the beginning of this period and very few records are known from Egypt and Elam. This was a time of invasion and upheaval by many new people throughout the Near East, North Africa, The Caucasus, Mediterranean and Balkan regions. First millennium BC Neo-Assyrian Empire , Mesopotamia. .}} The Neo-Assyrian Empire is usually considered to have begun with the accession of Adad-nirari II, in 911 BC, lasting until the fall of Nineveh at the hands of the Babylonians, Medes, Scythians and Cimmerians in 612 BC. The empire was the largest and most powerful the world had yet seen. At its height Assyria conquered the (and expelled its / dynasty) as well as , , , , , , , / , , the , , northern , , , , , , , , and parts of (such as ), and defeated and/or exacted tribute from , , , , and others. Neo-Babylonian Empire The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire was a period of Mesopotamian history which began in 620 BC and ended in 539 BC. During the preceding three centuries, Babylonia had been ruled by their fellow speakers and northern neighbours, . The Assyrians had managed to maintain Babylonian loyalty through the Neo-Assyrian period, whether through granting of increased privileges, or militarily, but that finally changed after 627 BC with the death of the last strong Assyrian ruler, , and Babylonia rebelled under a chieftain the following year. In alliance with king of the Medes, and with the help of the and the city of was sacked in 612 BC, Assyria fell by 605 BC and the seat of empire was transferred to Babylonia for the first time since . Classical Antiquity to Late Antiquity After the death of in 627 BC, the Assyrian empire descended into a series of bitter civil wars, allowing its former vassals to free themselves. reorganized and modernized the Median Army, then joined with King of Babylon. These allies, together with the , overthrew the Assyrian Empire and destroyed Nineveh in 612 BC. After the final victory at in 605 BC the Medes and Babylonians ruled Assyria. Babylon and Media fell under n rule in the 6th century BC ( ). For two centuries of Achaemenid rule both Assyria and Babylonia flourished, in particular becoming a major source of manpower for the army and a breadbasket for the economy. remained the lingua franca of the Achaemenid Empire, much as it had done in Assyrian times. Mesopotamia fell to in 330 BC, and remained under rule for another two centuries, with as capital from 305 BC. In the 1st century BC, Mesopotamia was in constant turmoil as the Seleucid Empire was weakened by on one hand and the on the other. The lasted for five centuries, into the 3rd century AD, when it was succeeded by the . After constant wars between Romans and first Parthians, later Sassanids; the western part of Mesopotamia was passed to the . as well as entered Mesopotamia from the 1st to 3rd centuries AD, and flourished, particularly in Assyria ( in Sassanid Persian), which became the center of the and a flourishing Syriac Christian tradition which remains to this day. A number of Neo-Assyrian kingdoms arose, in particular . The Sassanid Empire and Byzantine Mesopotamia finally fell to the under in the 630s. After the - of the mid-7th century AD, Mesopotamia saw an influx of non native and later also peoples. The city of was still occupied until the 14th century, and Assyrians possibly still formed the majority in northern Mesopotamia until the Middle Ages. Assyrians retain Eastern Rite Christianity whereas the Mandaeans retain their ancient gnostic religion and Mesopotamian Aramaic as a mother tongue and written script to this day. Among these peoples, the giving of traditional Mesopotamian names is still common. * ** Median and Babylonian Assyria (605 to 549 BC) ** , ** (6th to 4th centuries BC) ** Mesopotamia (4th to 3rd centuries BC) ** ( (3rd century BC to 3rd century AD) ** (2nd century BC to 3rd century AD) ** (1st to 2nd centuries AD) ** (2nd to 7th centuries AD), (2nd century AD) * ** ( ) (3rd to 7th centuries AD) ** conquest of Mesopotamia, dissolution of (633–651 AD) Notes Category:Empires